Arms: A 2nd Day Review

[Updated on June 28th, 2017]

Bringing Out the Arms…

So Nintendo’s newest franchise, Arms just released. I’ve maybe put a solid 9 hours or play or so. That being said, I’ve played pretty much all it has to offer. Yes, it plays like an arcade fighter. You fight ten characters in succession and you beat all of them and fight the final boss. The standard setup for how it has always been. Don’t get me wrong I was excited for the game and followed it casually because ya’know I have a life too. Somehow something about the game keeps me from wanting to play it more. I really like the game but I really feel like something is missing.

First off, I still consider Arms to be an incredibly fun game. Don’t get me wrong, I had enough fun to play a straight six hours. Even when I was losing the majority of that time for me before I got my bearings I was still enjoying the game. The characters are all fun and different and colorful. The stages are all different and have gimmicks or obstacles so fight feel fresh and strategies change. The game feels fresh and new. After just a couple hours I started having my own win streaks. The online party and matchmaking kills it. Everything it tries to do it does it well. It just needs to do one more thing: come out with the sequel.

…but can’t Hit ’em with these Hands.

Arms is a foreshadowing of an excellent game to be. If not an update, then Arms 2. The problem with this game is that it leaves me wanting so much more. Perhaps a more developed Hoops, Score, or Volleyball modes? I would also like to see more drastic differences in between character mechanics. In the end the fast characters don’t feel that much faster and the stronger characters don’t seem to hit much harder. I’d like to see the bulkier characters pack a little more muscle and hit points because I do feel like they have a bigger disadvantage and I usually love playing those characters. Speaking of which, I know this is a lot to ask, but the roster did seem a bit weak. I do realize I’m being harsh but I just have a higher standard for Nintendo games, I guess.

Who knows we might not even ever get a sequel and we get updates instead. As long as we get some kind of “next step” for Arms it’s a step in the right direction. (Or should I say swing? :P) All in all, I can’t put a number on it yet but if you got a buddy to fight and a switch looking for something fresh and new I’d say Arms is your next game. (Unless you can wait for Splatoon 2!)

An SF Bay Area native, perfect imperfectionist, and everyday legend. Photographer extraordinaire, master of analysis on the gaming scene, and creative professional. Sketching on the daily, traveling on the regular.

He's a hot off the press graphic designer who's got fresh ideas that are even hotter. He specializes in photography, Illustration and packaging design, but has also done typography, web design, and print design. He's led multiple projects for clients around the Bay Area. He left California State University East Bay with a B.A. in graphic design looking to redesign the world for the better.

He's passionate about everything design, art, and hip hop. Making things functional and aesthetically pleasing at the same time is something he wants todo for everyone. However, that just might be humanly impossible. So he'll start by doing so little by little.

An SF Bay Area native, perfect imperfectionist, and everyday legend. Photographer extraordinaire, master of analysis on the gaming scene, and creative professional. Sketching on the daily, traveling on the regular. He's a hot off the press graphic designer who's got fresh ideas that are even hotter. He specializes in photography, Illustration and packaging design, but has also done typography, web design, and print design. He's led multiple projects for clients around the Bay Area. He left California State University East Bay with a B.A. in graphic design looking to redesign the world for the better. He's passionate about everything design, art, and hip hop. Making things functional and aesthetically pleasing at the same time is something he wants to do for everyone. However, that just might be humanly impossible. So he'll start by doing so little by little.